Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC have swopped on the Abuja house of a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Deziani Alison-Madueke.
Alison-Madueke, according to an earlier report by Premium Times was arrested on Friday morning in London, United Kingdom on allegations of corruption by the UK National Crimes Agency, Premium Times said it reliably learnt.
NewMail Online Abuja correspondent reports that operatives of the EFCC had stormed the ex-minister’s house in Asokoro area of Abuja, allegedly looking for additional information with which she would be prosecuted.
If her trial takes place in and she is eventually jailed in the UK, she will become the second prominent Nigerian to be tried and convicted in the country on corruption charges.
The first was a former Delta State Governor, James Onanefe Ibori, who is still serving his jail term in a UK prison.
Alison-Madueke served in the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
She was accused of sleaze of huge proportions, especially as regards the running of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.
President Muhammadu Buhari had at the United Nations General Assembly last week said the trial of those who looted the NNPC would soon begin.
Premium Times had reported that Allison-Madueke was arrested along with four other people, whose identities could not be immediately verified.
Two top British officials in London confirmed the development to this newspaper. They requested not to be named because they had no permission to speak on the issue.
When contacted, the British High Commission in Nigeria confirmed that some arrests were made Friday but declined to disclose the identities of those involved.
Joseph Abuku, Press and Public Affairs Officer, said, “This morning, five people between the ages of 21 and 60 were arrested on suspicion of bribery and corruption offences. The crimes are being investigated by the National Crimes Agency.
“The National Crime Agency does not confirm identity at arrest nor provide information that could be used to corroborate the identity of an arrested individual.”
It is not clear whether the former minister was arrested based on request from the Nigerian government.
President Muhammadu Buhari had on September 27 hinted that those who misappropriated billions of naira belonging to Nigeria’s state oil company, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation would soon be prosecuted.
Buhari said at a meeting with President Xi Jinping of China in New York that his administration was determined to fully sanitize Nigeria’s oil industry and make it totally free of corruption and shady deals.
The President did not, however, say how soon the prosecutions would start or if indeed investigations had been concluded and whether culpable individuals had been identified.
The NNPC under the immediate past administration of President Goodluck Jonathan was involved in several shady deals, many of which have been cancelled by the present government.
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